He strokes our worries and sadness away

Good Morning Friends!  Wonderfully wrapped in His loving arms Wednesday!  Our little dog Axel is sick….oh we just hate it.  He has a terrible cough…it just sounds horrible and Kim and I just hate that he doesn’t feel good….Well, on Monday he was so worried about his little pal that he took him to the Vet.  She said he didn’t have a fever and couldn’t see anything in his throat, gave him a shot and some pills for his tummy ache and sent them home.  The cough kept getting worse and worse and yesterday morning, sitting on my lap, he kept looking at me….his eyes so droopy and sad…..he just looked miserable, so pathetic….As I sat in the quiet of the early morning, gently rubbing his throat and having my morning talk with our Father…..it occurred to me just how pathetic we must look to our Father sometimes….times we are worried, sad, grieving…..eyes drooping, cheeks tear streaked, shoulders drooped…..pathetic….Axel found comfort sitting with me, being stroked…..feeling my compassion for him….Can you just imagine how much compassion our Father has for us, when He sees us…..drooping and sad……He yearns for us to come to HIM, sit with HIM and be comforted….HE will not fail us….gently, lovingly HE strokes our worries and sadness away….carries them for us…wraps HIS loving arms around us and gives us peace.  Thank you Father.

 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4.  May your unfailing love be my comfort  according to your promise to your servant.  Psalm 119:76.  The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.  Psalm 29:11. 

Love you all!

Well, you aren't dead!

Good Morning Friends!  Take time to be thankful, Tuesday!!  Well, my goodness seems like it’s been forever….missed you all!  Last Sunday I wanted to have a lesson on being thankful in conjunction with Thanksgiving for the kids.  I found a neat idea on the internet and adapted it to our group.  Basically I had a basket of apples with a number taped on each one.  I had each child tell me a song they wanted to sing and I had bible verses on being thankful.  So, I read a bible verse, someone picked an apple and we sang the song that corresponded to the number on the apple!  The singing came directly from the first verse, Psalm 147:7, “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp (I said piano too, we have the most awesome pianist at church).”  And so we began, bible verse, apple, sing….what a good time we were having making music to our God!  Pretty soon, I read 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  This verse lead me to ask the kids, quite dramatically, “Well, I’ve been really sick….so does this verse mean I have to be thankful for being sick???!!!!!”  I was really trying to make a point, about not being whiners, when one Jr. Hi boy said in his getting deep Jr. Hi voice, head down….”Well…..you aren’t dead!”  Wow!  Did that ever hit home….I have been doing quite a bit of whining about being sick…..in fact I’m sure there are friends and co-workers that are sick of hearing me whine……the point is I am alive!  Alive, with medicine, lots of chicken soup, cough drops and a caring husband…..I am going to be just fine!  That young man’s comment may have been a bit on the extreme side, but I think it really made a good clear point for us…..we do have so very much for which to be thankful, grateful….praise worthy!  Yet, it seems we are so quick to see the negative…..get sick once in a while and we think the world has come to an end….How about all the days we are healthy, feel great….are we thankful on those days.  Do we think to thank our doctor, pharmacist, friends, caring husband on those days….My husband starts my car every morning and pulls it right up to the back door for me…..Hmmm, have I thanked him lately….Ever called your doctor when you felt really good and thanked her for always being there when you need her?  Ever thanked God for her and prayed for wisdom for her in so many difficult situations?  Thursday is “Thanksgiving Day”  why wait…..let’s start thanking and praising right now!  Our God takes good care of us….provides us with what we need….oh yea sometimes we think it’s not quick enough, but…..never forget, Our Father always knows what’s best!  Trust and believe!!!  Father, oh my goodness there’s not enough hours in the day to thank you for all you do for us!!!  Accept our humble gratitude and praise!  Help us to always keep attitudes of gratitude.  And thank you for my doctor!!!

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the God of gods.  His love endures forever.  Give thanks to the Lord of lords:  His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1-3.

Love you all!

March 26, 2013

Good Morning Friends!  Thankfully His, Tuesday!  I was really sick with the crud this weekend, so sick that I couldn’t even make it to church….I hate to miss church and Sunday, being Palm Sunday, was even more disappointing.  I love our Palm Sunday processional, walking into church waving palm branches singing “Hosanna to God in the Highest.”  We are excited and happy because we know that indeed our Jesus did suffer and die…..but most importantly He rose from the dead…..for us!  Our Savior…..I picture Him that day……He knew full well what was ahead of Him….He could have turned and ran, but instead He rode into Jerusalem willingly…..He rode on a donkey…..a donkey……as I was out feeding my donkeys last night, I couldn’t help but notice that they are not what one might call “handsome”…….big heads and ears and their fur is so rough and ungroomed….no they are not much to look at…yet Jesus rode on a donkey…..proudly….He most certainly could have rode on a stunning stallion….a flawless steed, rather than a donkey……but, the thought occurred to me, that was not what our Jesus was all about……He came humbly into the world…..born in a stable, rode on a donkey, died on a cross with criminals, buried in a borrowed tomb!  Jesus was humble…..He willingly became HUMBLE for us…..so that we might live because of His death……Jesus wants us to be humble too….He tells us in John 13:15…..”I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”  Being humble isn’t always easy.....maybe the next time we want to brag or showoff we should think about our Jesus on the back of that donkey….thank HIM and go out and show His love.  Father, thank you for the gift of Your Son…..help us to have humble spirits and willing hearts to show His love every chance we get.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11.

Love you all!